What if: Saito was the Operator and Netto the navi?
by Quinis
Summary: Just as the title says. The first chapter is playing around with the concept and the next chapter is to be a collision of this world and the canon universe.
1. Chapter 1

**Notes: **Neatsaviours on Tumblr recently posted an image of what they thought a navi Netto would be like. Well, I just had to write a story to go with it. The actual story is about Saito and his navi, X, being transported to the world where Netto and Rockman are.

However, I had a bit of trouble figuring out some differences between the teams of Saito and X and Netto and Rockman and so I did a writing exercise where I rewrote one of the battles from the manga as if it was Saito and X and then had Saito meeting his version of Enzan in a similar manner to the manga (where Enzan decides to test Netto; although it's an unofficial match in the manga and official here). I hope you enjoy.

The adventure to a different world is being worked on now. However, I wanted to do something different. I will post it as one chapter when it's finished. However, that means you might not see an update to this for a month or so. I reckon if I'm not done in a month, I should update slowly and you'll get chapters instead.

* * *

**What if: Saito was the Operator and Netto the navi?**

* * *

X rocketed through the net.

"Hold up, Guts!" Gutsman called out as he followed. While Gutsman had to knock other navis out of the way to move through the network, X ducked and swerved and rolled through the crowd without hitting a single navi.

WWW was about to attack a train and X couldn't afford to let Saito down again. This speed training would allow him to get faster and better at dodging.

* * *

Meanwhile, Saito was watching video after video about netbattling strategies while weaving through the heavy crowd. He couldn't keep up with his navi's way of thought and the crazy plans that X would come up with but he could adapt. If he wasn't able to think up new strategies, then he would look at all the different strategies to make sure he could pick the right one at the right time. He automatically ducked out of the way of a figure who seemed to pop out of the crowd.

"Saito!" the figure said, causing Saito to pause and turn.

"Higure-san!"

Saito then had to wave off Higure's worries as the man told him about the attack.

"I'm sorry. I can't. This is a job for net-police, Higure-san, not a child like me."

Saito walked away before Higure could say anything more. He looked down at his empty PET. X hadn't returned all day. Saito knew that his navi was probably rushing to the train station to fight.

Would he need Saito's help? Saito looked up, in the direction of the station. Even if X didn't need his help, he could be there for his navi.

"There's no way we're just going to let this happen," he promised before running off in the direction of the station.

* * *

Stoneman looked like a giant group of bricks stacked together. His arms were falling towers, shattering the net around them. Rocks fell from the ceiling as the navi focused his abilities on destruction. He was a WWW navi, trying to bring the rail system that connected the country to a halt.

X was on the level of a bug for this guy. A rock came falling down, ready to crush him.

"What're you standing around for?" Gutsman demanded to know, jumping over him and shielding him from the hit.

"Gutsman!"

"He'll be fine! We're the toughest!" Dekao announced.

"The toughtest!" Gutsman echoed.

They kept dodging all the boulders as they fell. X focused as he slipped through. Rocks still pelted him from the rocks as they exploded.

"We can handle this until Saito gets here!" Dekao said.

X nodded, hoping that Saito would make it in time. He couldn't keep this up much longer.

He slipped and cursed that he was too concerned with his operator to focus. He was just supposed to hold on until Saito came. That was all.

He closed his eyes as the rock came towards him.

"X!" Gutsman called from beyond the rockwall. He couldn't get to him in time.

The rocks impacted, hitting the barrier.

The barrier?

"Saito?" X questioned, opening his eyes.

"What are you doing?" Saito said, appearing on the screen. "Don't give up! Start battle operations!"

X breathed a laugh and got to his feet. "Ready!"

"I can see a path, you move though!" Saito said to him. X nodded and looked towards the building-sized navi before them.

Kicking off, X rushed towards him. Saito helped him move through the rocks, he just had to relax his body and mind and let the PET take control of his movement.

A bolder went straight towards them.

I can do it! X thought, feeling Saito give him control as he kicked up the rock and jumped on top of it. His blades slid over the rock, giving him the speed needed to jump to the next one. And the next. He gained some height and sliced the navi with a sword Saito sent.

"We did it!" he cheered as Stoneman collapsed into pieces.

"We did it," Saito breathed in relief.

"You were so fast!" Dekao said. "Gutsman could barely keep up."

"Gutsman couldn't keep up, guts," Gutsman said to X so that Dekao couldn't hear.

Saito smiled. "Thanks! I'm glad it's over without incident though."

"I'll be glad when the WWW is gone. Gutsman and I better get training again so that we can take them down!"

* * *

Saito stared at the email. He couldn't believe that this had been sent to him. X confirmed that it was addressed to him and that the email it had come from was legit.

He was also vibrating from excitement.

"A netbattling licence, Saito!" he said. "We could fight on the net whenever we wanted with something like that."

"Is fighting all you care about?" Saito demanded to know. X recoiled.

"You okay?"

"No. Why me?"

"We did handle the WWW incident at school. Maybe they took notice?" X forced his tone calmer and kinder in an attempt to make Saito feel more at ease. "If you don't want it, I can always reply with that."

"No. If we can help, we should help. Besides, this mentions a test," Saito motioned to the email. "We might not pass, you know."

"Pft. We're the best team ever and we'll pass with flying colours!"

* * *

X had an intense expression on his face as Saito walked into the testing area. He did so cautiously as it looked like an abandoned arcade. There was dust and rubble everywhere. Paint was peeling off the machines and the wall. It was a mess.

"Is this really where we're supposed to be?"

"Saito Hikari?"

"Y-Yes!" Saito jumped at the voice coming from nowhere.

"Saito, up there!" X cried out, pointing towards the landing. Near the stairs up to the landing there stood a boy with white hair. The layer underneath was black for some reason, giving his hair a two-toned look which Saito hadn't seen before.

"I'm Enzan Ijuuin and I will be your examiner today."

"Examiner? You're our age!" X cried out.

Enzan ignored the navi as he glared at Saito. "You let your navi speak for you? This will be a quick exam then. You are not worthy."

"What?" Saito gasped.

"How dare you!" X growled angrily. "Plug me in, Saito! I'll destroy this guy!"

"Right! Prepare for battle!" Saito stared at Enzan, silently daring him to follow his lead and send his navi in.

X rolled slowly around the net on his roller-skates. The area was basic, with blocks of data all around them. He kept his eyes out of any movement.

"He~y!" he called out. "I thought we were having a fight!"

The smaller blocks of data before him were split down the middle as a gust of movement rushed past.

"This is hardly a fight," the red navi with a sword for an arm said. "I am Blues, Enzan's netnavi. This is a battle to deletion."

"To what?" Saito screeched.

X glared at the other navi. "You look like a _Power Ranger_," he commented. Blues vanished a second later. X kicked back, rolling out of the way of a sword thrust.

"I couldn't see him move!" Saito gasped in shock.

"Blues speed is record breaking. You're outmatched, Hikari."

X kicked out to the side, sliding across the ground and avoiding another sweep of Blues' blade.

"He's good," X commented, eyes wide.

"We don't receive licenses to fight each other," Saito said. He stared at Enzan. "Why are you doing this?"

"A strange question for the examinee to ask. I am testing your capabilities. And you are failing."

"That's it? Because you were asked to?"

Enzan's eyes narrowed. "I decided to test myself against you because we are similar in age and so people think you are one the same level as Blues and myself. I need to be sure that we are the most powerful. It's all that matters."

"All that matters is power?" X glared up at the operators. "I can't believe that."

"That's because you have a weak operator," Blues said.

"What is your navi to you?"

"X?" Saito questioned. "He's my friend. My best friend."

Enzan considered this for a moment. "Blues. Delete that navi."

"No!" Saito cried out. His heartrate skyrocketed as he watched Blues' blade head towards X.

They needed to move round. Or... "Area steal!"

X flicked out and over to another square, glaring at Blues.

"It'll take more than that to delete us," he said, Saito nodding in agreement.

* * *

The resulting fight occurred in quick bursts. X was fast but Blues was defensive, even bringing out a shield that stopped projectile attacks. As the battle went on, X and Saito got better and faster.

Then it happened. Blues' speed suddenly increased, causing him to disappear from vision for a moment.

A moment was all that he needed.

Saito and X cried out in unison as Blues cut against their neck. They reacted, Saito fumbling with a sword chip.

"A simple sword won't stop us. Blues."

Blues rushed them again. A plan occurred to the two. They could take the hit. X threw his arm up and Blues' sword dug into it. Blues was stuck until he could pull his blade out. It gave X enough time to cut him.

Blues vanished.

"An illusion?" X questioned in shock.

Saito growled and pulled X away from Blues. X bumped into someone behind him, sending himself and Blues off balance. "Retreat is a strategy too." X's health was lower than it had ever been before. "I'm not letting you fight like this." Glaring at Enzan, he added, "we don't have to fight you."

"No, Saito! This is a test, we can't walk out!"

"No test is worth losing you. This isn't the end; we can try again."

X looked up at him, purple eyes sparkling with determination. "I don't want to run. And I don't think you do either. We **can** win!"

Saito bit his lip. It was a gamble, but not if he fought well. X was fast. Saito hated to lose.

"Get in close and hit him hard," Saito said, readying a couple of chips.

"You can't possibly think you're fast enough," Enzan scoffed.

Saito focused on the battle, ignoring that comment.

X bolted towards Blues, and skid down and around him.

"Sword!" They cut but Blues jumped out of the way and came for them. "Guard, cannon!" Blues' attack was blocked and Saito breathed out as X fired a cannon off right at Blues' visor. "We hit him!"

Blues was pulled out, disappearing in a scattering of pixels.

"Eh?" Saito and X questioned in unison. Saito looked towards Enzan for an explanation. "Why did you pull him out?"

"_'Retreat is a strategy too'_," Enzan echoed Saito's words from earlier. "There's no purpose in fighting you as you are now."

* * *

X laughed to himself as Saito continued to rage.

"Ugh! That- that stupid skunk-head! How could do that? What a sore loser!" The fight with Blues was long over but, Saito still got angry every time he thought of it.

"It's okay, Saito. We can beat them next time."

"If there even is a next time," Saito huffed. "I'd never even heard of him before today."

"Saito, no."

"What?"

"Don't go home and research everything about this guy. We don't need his life story."

Saito didn't agree. He liked to know what he was dealing with, especially if he was going to be sending X into danger.

"Do you think we passed?" he asked, changing the subject to the test.

"He technically lost the battle," X pointed out with a grin. He believed they had won.

"But he never said that defeating him was the test. Only that he was judging us."

X shrugged. "I think you're thinking too hard about it." He looked up at his operator and then squinted. "What did you do to your neck?"

"Huh?"

"Your neck. There's a red mark on it."

Saito stopped and looked in a nearby window. It was difficult to see in the light but there did appear to be a red slice across the side of his neck. He touched it and hissed a little as it stung.

"Maybe I ran into something today? Or my uniform is too tight?"

"Maybe," X agreed reluctantly. He thought it was weird though. His own neck was sore in the same place. At least he knew his injury had come from Blues' blade.

Saito's results came in the next day. He was given a City Netbattler rank. He could represent Officials in an emergency and could complete requests submitted to the Official Centre. It wasn't a fail but it also wasn't the best result. X was frustrated and wanted to be an Official Netbattler now but, Saito was happy with their rank. They could work their way up.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes: **Okay, so I wanted to do something where Saito and X meet Netto and Rockman but I wanted to upload it all at once. 1) so that it stays together instead of being split up and 2) so that you get to enjoy it all at once.

That led this taking longer than it really should have because I didn't give myself a deadline to get it done by like I do with most of my works.

* * *

**Beyondard**

* * *

"Have you boys ever heard of 'Beyondard?'"

The brown haired navi and the brown-haired operator looked at each other. Even with a screen between them, they knew each other's answer was the same before they spoke.

"No?" they said questioningly.

"What is it?" Saito asked, curiously. The navi, X, stared out at them with curious purple eyes.

"It's another world, beyond ours. Your grandfather was researching it."

X's eyes lit up. "Wow! Do you think there'll be strong navis in this Beyondard?"

"Why are you telling us this?" Saito asked.

Dr Hikari sighed. "While looking for an explanation for the quakes we've been seeing in the net, I found the research. And it seems to be pointing to Beyondard being the cause. Something on the other side is reaching out to here."

"And you want us to go there?" Saito questioned.

"You and your brother have taken down WWW and Nebula. Commissioner Kifune has put you two forward as investigators. However, you can back out if you don't want to do it."

"Why wouldn't we want to?" X questioned in shock. He was eager to explore this new world, rolling back and forth on his rollerblades.

"It'll be dangerous, won't it?" Saito said. "Is there anyone else?"

Dr Hikari hesitated. While his son was sensible, that sense was thrown out the window when other people were in danger. "We'll be looking at the other Netsaviours. Enzan and Laika are next in line."

"Won't they be coming anyway?" X pouted. It was difficult to tell if he wanted them there or not.

"We'll go with them," Saito said. He stared at Dr Hikari the way he always did in situations like this, with determined eyes.

"Yes!" X cheered, becoming a blur of orange and blue light as he rushed around the net. "I'll contact them now!"

"X-" And he was gone. Saito closed his mouth mid-call, staring at where his navi had been standing a moment before.

* * *

Laika stared at the large gateway. It was going to be their portal to Beyondard.

"This seems dangerous," he said.

The speaker crackled and Dr Hikari's voice rang out, "I assure you, it's perfectly safe."

_'Perfectly safe,'_ Saito mouthed to his navi, causing them both to giggle. Enzan glared at them but Saito didn't see.

"The gateway will hold a dimensional area which we will use to connect Beyondard to us. The new program installed in your PETs will allow you to contact us."

"So that's what it does," X said in wonder. Blues turned to stare at his rival.

"You should listen to this quietly," he said.

X shook his head and shrugged. "Nah. That doesn't work either. Besides, Saito will remember it."

"Remembering things is your role," Blues pointed out, eyes unreadable behind his dark visor.

"Are you going to start fighting?" Searchman questioned, coming up between them. It was surprising that his camo design somehow allowed him to hide his presence on the net, which was devoid of bushes and trees. "Blues, you do remember how the last battle went?"

Blues turned away, long hair swishing around. "No." He didn't look at them as he spoke.

X smirked. Blues totally remembered! He and Saito had wiped the floor with the red samurai navi. X had been fast enough to get behind Blues to hit him and even vaulted over Blue's ready sword with his rollerblades at one point. His rollerblades were made to take a beating.

"Are we ready?" Dr Hikari asked the group.

Saito looked to Laika and then Enzan, who both nodded. Only then did he answer, "we're ready."

* * *

The portal came to life with a crackle and a hum.

"We're going through that?" X questioned in amazement. "Awesome!"

Saito would not have called it that. He thought the portal looked terrifying. They were going to walk through it with no idea about what was on the other side.

"Let's go," Enzan said, giving Saito a nudge. Saito stumbled forward, took a deep breath and jumped through the portal.

The hair on his skin stood up, charged by the air around him. The first step felt slowed down but also too quick. As he stepped onto solid ground on the other side, he was almost pulled to the ground by an invisible force.

X gave a little cry. Not even looking around, Saito pulled out his PET.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Fine," X said. Although he was wincing a little. "Just got a shock to the system. Literally."

"Ha ha," Enzan grumbled. "Have you noticed what we walked into yet?"

Saito had not. He looked up to see a group of scientists looking very shocked.

"Um, hi?" he said. "Sorry about interrupting your experiment."

When he didn't continue, Laika stepped forward. He was the best at dealing with other people.

"Is there a Dr Hikari here that we could speak to?"

A man with his hair sleeked up and back gave them a look up and down. His glasses looked a little more like goggles and somehow stopped them from seeing his eyes.

"That could be arranged," he said, rubbing his chin. One of the other scientists run off, presumably to do that.

"Are you Mr. Meijin?" Saito asked.

Meijin flinched. "It's not 'Mr'!"

"But it is Meijin right?" X said, appearing as a little hologram on Saito's shoulder.

"That's right." Meijin did a double take as he took in X's form. "You're an interesting navi." He leaned in closer. "What's your name?"

"X! And that's Saito!"

Meijin nodded a greeting to Saito before going back to his navi. "Would you mind if I took a look at you?"

"I would mind," X said. "Papa's the only one allowed to look at me. And Saito but he's not skilled enough yet."

Saito hung his head in shame. Not being able to look after the programming of his own navi was a sore point. He was the son of Dr Hikari and yet he didn't understand programming. Meijin smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, it's okay. You'll get there."

"Don't touch him," Enzan said. "And you," he said to Saito, "stop trusting everyone we come across. We don't know what he's like."

"But, there's a Meijin on our side," Saito mused. "And they seem similar enough."

"It's the little differences we have to watch out for," Laika reminded them.

"I heard we had guests?" Dr Hikari said, walking in.

The room froze as the kids followed him behind him. There was Laika and Enzan and another kid they had never seen before. He looked a little like Saito, if Saito didn't keep his hair parted neatly and instead just tied a bandanna around it.

"Wow," Saito commented under his breath. "I'm guessing that's you two."

"They look exactly like us," this world's Laika commented.

"We can see that," this world's Enzan said. He stared his double. "What are you doing here?"

"Heh. Enzan is Enzan, even in Beyondard."

Both Enzans glared at Saito. Dr Hikari nodded, as if this made perfect sense. Saito's comment allowed him to figure out that the three boys where from another world.

"If you could join me in my office. Netto and both versions of Laika and Enzan can join us."

Saito fell into line, following beside Netto.

"Who are you?" he asked. Netto answered and Saito was so thrown off that he stumbled and almost hit the ground. "What did you say?"

"How?" X demanded to know.

"I'm assuming by the lack of Netto that there's some differences between this world and your own?" this world's Laika said to Saito and Netto.

Saito nodded furiously. Even Netto was a little disturbed but he hid it with his mischievous grin.

"It's not our first time dealing with a Beyondard," this world's Enzan said. "But, your world does seem to be closer to ours than the other Beyondard was."

"The other Beyondard had an experiment go wrong that merged the virtual and physical worlds together."

"That's crazy," Saito mused. "You mean I would get to be in the same world as X?"

"Yep! Rockman and I have shared the same world before! It's awesome!" Netto said happily.

"Rockman, huh?" X mused, looking over at the blue helmeted navi. He waved and Rockman waved back. "Pretty nifty. Saito and I shared a world once, when Regal set off a machine that turned the physical world into the net. But we spent most of the time in Full Synchro so we couldn't really enjoy it."

"Yeah. It always seems like something big is going on when I can hug Netto," Rockman agreed with a sigh.

"So Dr Regal is also a bad guy in your world?"

Saito nodded. "Does your world have a Dr Wily?"

Netto laughed. "Of course! You're not asking because he's a good guy in your world, right? Because he's a wanted criminal here."

"And yet he still hasn't been caught," both Enzans complained in unison. Netto and Saito shared a look before laughing silently together.

"This is so weird," Saito's Laika commented as Dr Hikari closed the door to his office. "Please tell me we can go home soon?"

Dr Hikari's eyes widened in surprise. "I assumed you had a way to return."

"X does. But he'll need to charge first," Saito explained.

Dr Hikari nodded in understanding. "That's good. We don't have the technology here to send you back safely."

"You know what? Before we go back, I want to know where this world's Saito is," Enzan commented. "Is he anything like our version?"

"What about your version of Netto?" Enzan asked himself. "Why didn't he come with you?"

Dr Hikari tensed. He hadn't wanted to explain this and had hoped that the kids wouldn't notice. However, a glance at Saito and Netto told him that the two had realised. Saito was looking everywhere but at them and Netto was scratching the lower back of his head. A glance at the computer showed their navis reacting in a similar way. Rockman wasn't meeting anyone's eyes while X was rubbing the back of his neck.

"Come to think of it, you mentioned another Beyondard," X said, suddenly perking up. "What was Netto or Saito like in that world?"

The group was silent as they thought back.

"No clue," Netto shrugged.

"If Netto existed in that world, then we didn't meet him."

"Considering that the only Hikari we knew about was Dr Tadashi Hikari, who knows if you even existed."

"No Papa?" X questioned with a shudder.

"It's certainly strange to think of," Saito said with his voice shaking a little.

"Good thing you came here then!" Netto said brightly.

"That's for sure," Netto's Enzan muttered, recalling having to raid abandoned supermarkets for food and trekking across virus infested deserts.

"Does this mean that there's no Saito in this world, like how there's no Netto in ours?" Laika asked everyone.

"Exactly!" Netto interrupted before anyone else could comment.

"Netto!" Rockman scolded. X snickered and Saito breathed a sigh of relief.

"How long until X is ready to take us back?" Enzan asked Saito.

Saito looked to X whose gaze went unfocused as he accessed the program. His expression dropped.

"Uh... do you really want to know?"

Enzan clicked his tongue in annoyance. He wouldn't have asked if he didn't want to know.

"It'll be at least 7 hours."

"That's almost midnight here," Dr Hikari informed them. "It'd be better to stay the night."

"Stay the night where?" Saito asked suspiciously.

"Saito," X sighed. His brother could be a little more trusting. Saito tended to question everyone's motives. If it wasn't for X, he would let his worries and doubts get the best of him and not do anything for those he didn't fully trust.

"We should stay here," Saito's Laika said. "There's no need to make any special arrangements."

"But where will you sleep?" Netto asked. Dr Hikari quietened the kids and informed them that he could have sleeping bags brought in.

"A camp," X's Searchman commented approvingly.

Saito seemed nervous about the idea, looking around like he wanted to bolt for an exit. And he would make it too, having been on the track team at school for a number of years. Laika placed a hand on his shoulder to keep him from enacting his fantasy.

"Cool! We can all stay together!" Netto and X said in unison. Saito quickly covered his PET speakers, hoping that no one caught the unified moment between this otherworldly version of his brother and his navi.

"You have a house to return to," Netto's Enzan pointed out.

"I don't know, keeping watch over these... people seems like a good idea," Laika commented.

Netto grinned at Enzan. "See, Laika agrees with my plan."

"You can make it mission 'get to know Beyondard duplicates;', if that makes you feel better about it," Saito commented with a smug smile. He knew that if this Enzan was like his own, he would find the joke naming of this event annoying.

"Not everything needs a name, Saito," Saito's Enzan said for what felt like the 100th time. "Especially not 'mission' when it's not an assigned mission."

"Ah, Enzan is Enzan in any world," Netto said calmly with Saito nodding serenely in agreement.

"What's that supposed to mean!" both versions of Enzan demanded to know.

* * *

X looked at up at the small smile Saito was sporting. It was good that his operator had found a way to enjoy this little trip but, at the same time, it was a little sad that part of the smile could be attributed to Netto.

What was so great about being in the physical world anyway? He tapped his fingers on his arm, waiting out the discussion.

"It kind of hurts to see them getting along," Rockman commented with a wistful and sad tone to his voice.

"Don't I know it?" X huffed. "But Saito doesn't really get comfortable around strangers easily so I guess this isn't too bad." Or so he'd keep telling himself.

"Really?" Rockman questioned in surprise. "Netto gets too friendly around strangers. I keep having to warn him not to blindly trust people."

X barked a laugh. "And I have to keep reminding Saito that not every person has an ulterior motive." X glanced up to see Saito looking at him with a smug expression. "What?"

"You're getting along. Actually, I'm surprise that neither of you have brought up netbattling yet. It was the first thing out of X's mouth when he met Gutsman."

Everyone else was looking at the two similar looking kids and their navis with curious eyes.

"Is anyone else thinking they're seeing double?" Netto's Enzan commented.

"We're all doubled. It's just that they're different enough to be unnerving," Saito's Laika commented.

"Why are they the only ones different?" Saito's Enzan mused.

"Maybe there's some kind of butterfly effect going on? Something small is different between our worlds, something that affects Netto but not us?" Netto's Enzan theorised.

"It's the best theory we've got," Netto's Laika commented before walking over to Saito and Netto. "Are we staying the night here as well?"

"If you wish," Dr Hikari said.

* * *

Morning came and Netto was sprawled out on the sleeping bag. Or was it Saito? Saito's hair was messed up from sleeping and Netto hadn't worn his iconic bandanna to bed so the two looked even more identical than they had the previous day.

"If they were from the same world, I'd say they were twins," Saito's Laika commented while Netto's Enzan took a photo.

"Not a bad idea," Saito's Enzan said, also taking a photo.

"Do you think they're the same person, just with a different name?" Netto's Enzan added a new theory.

"Do you guys have anything better to do than gossiping about others?" Saito questioned, waking up. He rubbed at his eyes, yawning tiredly as he stumbled to his feet. "I need to go get dressed."

X appeared on the PET screen. "Ah, Saito!" he tried to stop his operator. With a bang, Saito walked right into the doorframe instead of the doorway. At the sound, Netto woke in surprise.

"Ow," Saito stated blandly. He was fine, just embarrassed and now very awake. X just sighed and went back to sleep.

Netto snickered from the sleeping bags before dropping back down into them, as if to go back to sleep.

Netto's Enzan wasn't having any of it. "Get up," he said, literally dragging the sleeping bag out from under Netto.

"Netto!" Rockman called out. "You should wake up!"

"Ugh, fine," Netto huffed, climbing out of the sleeping bag. Saito walked back in as Netto walked out to get dressed.

"Saito, where did X go?" Rockman asked, curious.

"Back to sleep. He usually doesn't wake up until later," Saito responded kindly as he picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. Rockman nodded his understanding as he knew who X had probably been based off. However, both Enzans looked confused about this. They shared a look and Netto's Enzan motioned for Saito's to speak to him.

"You let your navi... sleep in?" Saito's Enzan questioned.

"Sleep is not a requirement," Blues pointed out.

"I know that," Saito responded. Really, did they forget that it was research from his father and grandfather made navis possible? "X is special."

"And awake," X complained, appearing in his PET. His eyes had tired circles underneath. "The speed I use means I require more time to charge."

"Or you just like to sleep in," Rockman commented in an amused voice. X glared at the other navi before stalking off. "Did I say something wrong?"

"He's just grumpy in the morning," Saito said as he put his PET away. He refrained from adding that Rockman had just said something that Saito himself had also teased Rockman about. Who knew the orange and blue navi was so sensitive?

* * *

Dr Hikari greeted the children as they all gathered in the same room Saito and the others from his world had appeared the previous day.

"I'm sorry but X isn't fully awake yet," Saito said. He knew that Dr Hikari would know the reason why X wasn't the same as other navis and why it was important for them to wait until X was awake.

Or maybe not. "Do you mind if I look at your navi?"

"A little," Saito answered honestly. "X is special and I protect him."

Dr HIkari smiled and held out his hand. "I promise to look after him. I just want to check his programming against Rockman's."

The other netsaviours were confused, except Netto and Rockman. Rockman seemed a little worried but Netto looked excited.

"Do you think it'll be the same?" he asked his father and Saito.

Saito shrugged. There was a good chance. They were supposed to be twins after all.

"I suspect the programming on these two will be almost the same. There will be small differences, like fingerprints for humans, but I suspect their core programming to be the same."

"Cool!" Netto was glowing as he handed Rockman over.

"This is a pointless test," Laika commented. "We should be getting home."

"Have you thought about what it might mean if two navis share core programming but seem to be different in personality and appearance?" Saito asked.

Netto couldn't tell if their silence was a yes or a no. If navis could be affected by the environment they interacted with, it would generate new discussions on just how independent navis had become.

The kids had breakfast while Dr Hikari fiddled with the two PETs in his lab. When they returned he smiled as he handed the PETs back to their owners.

The result of his experiment? "There are subtle differences."

X glared at the scientist. "And you used me to contact Papa."

"Papa?" Netto questioned.

"Our Papa?"

X nodded and Saito was upset that he forgot about that feature. "Papa explained the whole thing about how something in this world was pulling at ours."

"We believe it may have been the result of the kids' exploration into a different Beyondard. There may have been waves out into other universes."

"This is giving me a headache," Netto whined.

"So your universe accidentally called ours?" Enzan huffed.

Dr Hikari nodded. "Although it did allow for some interesting research for me and my counterpart."

"I still don't get what comparing Rockman's to X's programming does," Netto's Enzan said.

"In all honest, as the person who programmed Rockman in our world and my counterpart having programmed X in the other world, I can account for the differences between Rockman's and X's core programming. It's circumstances unique to them but proposes and interesting direction for debates around navi autonomy."

"I can account for it as well and I didn't have to look at their programming," Netto said.

"That's just a guess without any evidence though," Saito pointed out.

"Okay, you two. Stop talking and let's just go," X said.

"I thought you weren't awake enough?" Netto's Enzan questioned suspiciously.

"I'm awake enough now."

Netto's Enzan felt a shiver down his back as X gave him a cocky smirk. There was something unnervingly familiar about it. The same as Saito's determination as he shuffled his team into a space where they could head back. Maybe Saito was someone else in this world and the same for Netto on their side. Saito wasn't Netto, that much felt obvious, but maybe someone else was.

"Okay, thanks for having us!" he said, right before X activated the program to send them back. For a moment, Netto's Enzan felt he had it. But whatever the familiar feeling was, it was gone with the three familiar strangers from Beyondard.

So much for explaining some of the odd behaviour between Netto and Rockman.

* * *

So much for explaining some of the odd behaviour between Saito and X. Saito's Enzan felt he had been onto something without consciously having an idea of what that something might be.

Their Dr Hikari looked excited and relieved as they returned. "You were gone for almost a day. How was it?"

"Let's never do that again," X said, his energy depleted.

"I don't know. I think it was interesting." To Dr Hikari, he explained, "we met other versions of ourselves on the other side. The other Papa was still Papa."

"I did notice that during the quick conversation with my Beyondard counterpart."

"Except Saito was replaced by some kid called Netto," Laika pointed out. Dr Hikari visibly stiffened before he agreed with X that this experiment was one that they probably didn't need to repeat.

Saito smiled at little at how quickly their father changed his mind, although he understood it. The whole ideal opened up the thoughts of 'what if'. What if he had been the twin born with HBD and died from it? Saito hadn't ever imagined it but he now had the image of Rockman in his head, alongside the image of a living Netto.

"AH! We forgot to have a netbattle!" X whined from inside the PET.

"Ah." Saito had forgotten about that. They really should have battled Netto and Rockman. X would have finally had an opponent he could go full power with. "Oops."

"Saito!" X whined.

"There's nothing we can do. Let's get you charged and then we can go onto the net at home."

X sighed but reluctantly agreed that sounded like a plan.


End file.
